Tuesday, March 17, 2009

CP 73 - Cooper 82 in OT

The Rebels come within one possession of knocking off the #1 seeded Hawks (currently ranked #4 in the state) and reaching the sections championship game. With the score tied at 68, the Rebels play for the last shot and the win. The Rebels pass the ball around and with Duberry in the lane under the basket he is not able to catch a deflected pass in the lane with six seconds left which the Hawks get and take a desperation 3 from half court to end the regulation game.In overtime, the Hawks win the tip and senior guard Freddie Burton knocks down a three and the Hawks convert on their first two possessions to take a commanding 5 point lead, which is their largest of the game. The Rebels miss another shot and Cooper gets another basket on a break out to put it out of reach as they outscore the Rebels 14-5 in the extra period to come away with the win.The Rebels who jumped out to 7-0 lead and led thru out the first period gave up a 6-0 run to end the half as the Hawks go into the locker room up 35-33. The Rebels who where able to contain Rodney Williams (9 points) all night with their 2-3 zone, had no answer for Joe Bright who had a season high 33 points. The first half was the deep 3 point shooting of Scott Theisen (25 points) vs the inside scoring of Bright.The Rebels start the 2nd half in demanding fashion and retake the lead behind some 3 point bombs by Theisen and some slivery moves by Kyle Zimmermann (21 points) who eventually sends Bright to the bench with four fouls.

With the Rebels up 6 points with about five minutes left in the game, they call a timeout and return to the game and it appears they have taken the air out of the ball. The Rebels who had built their lead by playing uptempo appear to start running clock killing plays and don't convert on three straight possessions and before you can blink we have a tied ball game. What was very confusing about this move is that the Hawks where completely out of gas at this point and looked ready to take the knockout punch.My hat goes off to the Hawks for being able to gut this one out and come away with the win and their second consecutive section championship game against Osseo will be one to watch. Game balls or should I say Gut Balls for Kyle Zimmermann (broken nose) and Jasper Duberry (jammed ankle) for even playing in this one. Both where injured in the teams last game against Centennial last Wednesday and had not practiced until yesterday. Zimmermann attacked the basket all game and made an assortment of baskets in the lane, most against the tough Bright. Duberry was able to handle the Hawks constant ball and full court pressure all game and was instrumental in getting the Rebels into their sets and managed the games tempo very well.Scott Theisen what a season and high school career ending game. Theisen, who will be deeply missed next year, knocked down some 3's tonight (7 for the game) which where well pass the NBA 3 point line and had the crowd going "wow". We wish him the BEST of luck next year at the college level.The Rebels end their season with a 17-11 record.